German parliament passes law subjecting pilots to drug tests

The German parliament has passed a legislation that imposes drug and alcohol tests on airline pilots.

The legislation was in response to last year’s crash of a Germanwings plane into the French Alps.

Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Thursday that experts across the world were seeing the positive effects of such controls in strengthening health and safety in the aviation industry.

“As a result of the new law, airline pilots will have to take tests to determine whether they are under the influence of medication, alcohol or other psychoactive substances both before entering the cockpit and at random,’’ he said.

Prosecutors’ findings into last year’s crash found that the pilot, Andreas Lubitz, intentionally flew the plane into a mountain killing himself and 149 other people on board.

Lubitz had long suffered from depression and suicidal tendencies and feared he was losing his eyesight, French investigators said.